FanPost

TMQ Vikings Eagles Analysis

Even a sportswriter knows what to do... (From ESPN.COM page 2)

Philadelphia at Minnesota Analysis: Two weeks ago, TMQ warned that, for good or ill, Adrian Peterson is the Vikings' meal ticket -- and it would be a big mistake to think the team has a better chance to win with Tarvaris Jackson passing than with Peterson running. So what happened Sunday? With Philadelphia leading 16-14 and Minnesota facing second-and-13 on its own 35 with 7:12 remaining, Peterson came out of the game. The Vikes went incompletion, incompletion, punt. Philadelphia scored in one snap; then Minnesota got another possession and went incompletion, incompletion, incompletion, punt, with Peterson still sitting out. Up to the point with 7:12 remaining when Minnesota abandoned the run, the Vikings had 131 yards rushing and 123 yards passing. Peterson didn't carry the ball again, or even catch a screen pass. He couldn't, because the meal ticket was off the field for much of the fourth quarter.

 

When I checked the stats at the end of the game, I saw two touchdowns by Peterson and no touchdowns by any other Viking. Sure, he is a feast-or-famine meal ticket, often getting bottled up or even losing yardage before popping a big gain, such as his 40-yard scoring run Sunday. But Jackson had yet another awful day passing the ball -- Minnesota would have been better off handing the ball to Peterson, especially since he often performs best in the fourth quarter when defenders are tired. Defensing Peterson requires "stringing out" -- a lot of fast lateral motion -- which is more tiring than defensing runs up the middle. Yet Peterson stood on the sideline as Minnesota crumbled. The Vikings finished the regular season fifth in the NFL in rushing, and 25th in passing, yet the Vikings went pass-wacky when down by just two points in the third quarter. And Peterson was the -- what's the phrase I am looking for? -- oh yes, the NFL's leading rusher in 2008. If I had the NFL's leading rusher on my team, my super-sophisticated strategy would be to let him play. Minnesota's second-half possession results: punt, punt, punt, punt, punt, fumble, end of game.

 

Philadelphia blitzed on 20 percent of Minnesota's offensive downs -- not "constant" blitzing, as the announcers said, but slightly above the league average of about 15 percent. The difference was that most Philadelphia blitzes included a safety -- frequent safety blitzing means the defense does not fear the opposing quarterback. When safeties are coming, the center of the field is inviting. Yet most of Minnesota's deep passes were thrown to the sidelines, which requires less quarterback skill than going down the middle. Philadelphia offered Minnesota the middle, and the Vikings declined to throw there. Twice early in the contest, Philadelphia cornerbacks "jumped" a Minnesota curl or comeback pattern and came close to an interception. It is not a state secret that Jackson telegraphs his passes; surely the Eagles' coaches saw that in film study, and told their defensive backs to jump certain types of throws. Trailing 9-7 in the second quarter, Minnesota had a third-and-4, and Jackson threw an interception returned for a touchdown. Asante Samuel saw Jackson telegraph his target and jumped a short comeback route. Jackson was being hammered by a pass-rusher as he threw wildly, thus making two fundamental errors on the same play. Good thing they didn't just hand off to the league's leading rusher!

 

As for Philadelphia, its front seven -- Juqua Parker, Mike Patterson, Brodrick Bunkley, Trent Cole, Akeem Jordan, Stewart Bradley and Chris Gocong -- are playing as well as the Giants' front seven was when the G-Persons rolled to the Super Bowl last season. Plus the Eagles' defensive schemes have become less predictable lately, as Philadelphia now shows blitz and then backs off more than it did in the past. If we can't have a Manning-Manning Super Bowl, at least a Pennsylvania Turnpike matchup of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh remains possible.

This FanPost was created by a registered user of The Daily Norseman, and does not necessarily reflect the views of the staff of the site. However, since this is a community, that view is no less important.